Trip to Houston, June 2016: Galveston & Miller Outdoor Theatre
>> Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all Muslim friends & readers! PerutBesi wishes all of you a blessed time with family & friends as you celebrate this new year. To those who are traveling, have a safe & pleasant journey :) As for the rest of us Malaysians, happy holidays & have an enjoyable break!
**********
For those who have read my previous post, you must be wondering what's there at Galveston & would like to find out more about the dolphin cruise that we experienced. Galveston is all the way down south of Houston (more than an hour's drive from our hotel at Willowbrook area) & is what I call as a 'coastal town'. We drove straight towards Pier 21 area where the BayWatch Dolphin Cruise was & parked at the public parking area (shop lots) opposite the port.
The weather was really beautiful on that day (thank You, Jesus!) & we were all tremendously excited with the day's plans. After the relaxing & satisfying time at Kemah Boardwalk (my previous post here), we 'fried' ourselves under the blazing hot sun at Galveston. It was at least 40°C that day.
Upon arrival at Pier 21, Galveston, we were greeted by the majestic cruise ship, the Carnival Breeze, that was scheduled to leave the port on that same day itself. If only we can get onto the ship to check out the interior, that'll be double the excitement!
BayWatch Dolphin Cruise
URL: http://www.galvestonbaywatch.com/
GPS: 29.3091606,-94.7947745
Note: Head towards Pier 21, Galveston. There are 2 companies offering dolphin cruises, so you can just opt for the one that suits your timing. We went for BayWatch Dolphin Cruise.
We arrived around 3+p,m. but the 4:00p.m. dolphin cruise was already fully booked, so we opted to go for the 5:00p.m. cruise anyhow. The cruise takes around 45 minutes & costs $10.00/person. It's approximately RM41.00/person, which is kinda costly, but oh well, for that once-a-lifetime experience, why not?
The cruise takes you around the port area & I think it's a great experience, especially since the weather was fantastic for photography purposes! My only regret was not filming the entire journey cos capturing the sight of wild dolphins was just SO challenging!
I just managed to capture ONE photo with the dol-fin...can you see it?
As the dolphins aren't tame nor trained, you'll really have to open your eyes wide & practically be an 'eagle' for 45 minutes, watching closely at the waters to spot for swimming/passing dolphins...hahaha. It was quite an experience playing "Spot the dolphins" game compared to those at Sea World where the dolphins are 'there' & always visible.
We managed to catch the sight of dolphins at least 5 times throughout the entire 45 minutes cruise. Not too bad, really, considering it's quite a gamble. Although they didn't appear for very long, like "Hey, there are 2 dolphins on the right!".... "Where? Where?" Now you see 'em, now you don't...
After that memorable experience, we packed our sandwich dinner from Jimmy John's & drove all the way back to Houston downtown to catch the Juneteenth Celebration event at Miller Outdoor Theatre!
Tickets for covered seating (free seating) are free for collection on that day itself. Each individual can redeem 4 passes to enjoy the event. Basically Miller Outdoor Theatre hosts numerous events each year, each week! You'll need to check out their website to find out what's happening on that weekend & just pop by in the morning to grab your free tickets :)
Miller Outdoor Theatre's URL:
http://milleroutdoortheatre.com/events/833/
Miller Outdoor Theatre's FB:
https://www.facebook.com/miller.outdoor/?rf=138203456220735
"Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, is a holiday that commemorates the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas, and more generally the emancipation of African-American slaves throughout the Confederate South." - Wikipedia
To celebrate this special day, the Miller Outdoor Theatre featured a night of funk music starring the legendary funk and soul jazz saxophonist, Maceo Parker. The first half of the evening featured ThunderSOUL Orchestra (I REALLY enjoyed their performance! It was phenomenal!) & Writers in the Schools’ award-winning poetry-slam team Meta-Four Houston. We were extremely pleased to be sitting there to enjoy the free, live funky music for almost 3 hours!
The 3 of us agreed that the Sunday was well-spent & truly enjoyable! Words just can't describe how happy we were with the events of that day. All thanks & praise to God for making it all possible! :)
Recalling the funky evening,
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment